Apparatus for carbureting gas



(No Model.)

R.. s. LAWRENCE. APPARATUS FOR CARBURETING GAS.

No. 509,114.. Patented Nov. 21, 189er.`

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ROBERT SOUTHVORTH LAl/VRENOE, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO PAULINE LAWRENCE SIEGRIST, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR CARBURETING GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 509,17 4, dated November 21, 1893.,

Applieationfilerl March 28, 1893. Serial No. 468,033. (No model.)Y Patented in Belgium July 14, 18921No. 100.516, and December 5, 1892,1lol 102,405; in England October 29, 1892, No. 19,483, and in France February 23, 1893, No. 228,171.

To a/ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT SoUrHwoRrH LAWRENCE, a citizen of the United States, residing at London, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Carbureting Gras and Air for Illuminating and Heating Purposes, (for which I have obtained patents in Belgium, No. 100,516, dated July 14, 1892, and No. 102,405, dated December 5, 1892; in France, No. 228,171, dated February 23, 1893, and in England, No. 19,483, dated October 29, 1892,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention consists of an improved apparatus for carbureting or enriching gas and for carbureting air for illuminating and heating purposes which said apparatus is designed to produce perfect combustion of the carbureted gas or air without smoke at the burners and to prevent condensation in the servicepipes and freezing of the carburetor.

VWhen intended for use in carbureting gas the apparatus consists of three parts connected together by pipes, namelya carburetor, an automatic oil feed box and an oil reservoir. When intended for use in carbureting air a fourth part namely and air pressure blower is necessary.

In order that my said invention may be thoroughly understood I will describe the same with reference tc the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a vertical section of the whole apparatus. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view on a larger scale of the carburetor showing the arrangement of the cylinders in the several chambers. Fig. 3 is a separate view of one of the cylinders of the outer chamber and of one of the cylinders of the middle and innermost chambers. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the innermost chamber showing the arrangemeut of the tubes through which the gas or air passes from the middle chamber into the innermost chamber. Fig. 5 is a vertical section on a larger scale taken through the center of the central tube of one of the groups of tubes. Fig. 6 is a detail View in vertical section on a larger scale showing the inlet valve andthe bell of the feed box.

The same letters and figures of referencev indicate the same parts 'in all the figures of the drawings.

The carburetor A is constructed preferably of elliptical shape and is divided into three concentric chambers a, b, c by internal partitions D, E. The outer chamber a constitutes the carbureting 0r enriching chamber, the middle chamberb is the mixing or equalizing chamber and the innermost chamber c is the friction or condensing and refrigerating or chilling chamber. Each of these chambers is filled with perforated metal cylinde1sa,b,c' placed close or nearly close together as shown in Fig. 2. The cylinders a in the outer chamber ce are filled with a suitable absorbent material such as porous Wood ber; the cylinders b in the middle chamber b are filled with a suitable mixing and .stripping7 material such as mineral wool and the cylinders c in the innermost or central chamberc are lled with an imperfect conductor of heat such as charcoal. The cylinders a in the outer chamber a are supported by the bottom H of the carburetor and are of suflicientlength to reach the top or cover G thereof. The cylinders b' and c in the middle and innermost chambers are supported upon a raised platform d and reach' to the top Gr of the carburetor. The space underneath the raised platform d is filled with an imperfect conductor of heat such as pulverized charcoal or sifted ashes or asbestus cement. tween the chambers are soldered gas tight to the cover Gand rest-upon a coarse heavy cloth X which covers the bottom of the chambers.

The gas or air to be carbureted enters the carbureting or enriching chamber a at the top throughY a pipe Z provided with a cock 1 and by means of a gas-tight partition g near they inlet the said gas or air is compelled to travers'e or circulate through the full exteutvof the said chambere to reach a passage j through which it enters the mixing or equal' izing chamberb wherein a partition h similar to that in the enriching chamber a compels the gas or air to traverse or circulate through the full extent of the said mixing or equalizing chamber b in order to pass into the innermost or central chamber c the access to which The partitions D, E beconsists of tubes arranged `in groups, each group consisting of a central tube a: surrounded bytubesyof smaller diameter. The mouths of all the said tubes y which open into the chamber c are attened or pinched together and the smaller tubes y y in each group have their ends slightly bent inward toward the mouth of the central tubea; in order that in each group thejets of gas passing through the tubes y may impinge upon the central jet coming from the central tube x. From this inner or central chamber c the gas or air passes through suitable slits or perforations into an outlet pipe n at the center of the said chamber and thence to the burners through the pipe J.

A direct inlet pipe m for the gas or air to be carbureted leads to the middle chamber b thus enabling the operator to control the admission of gas or air through the pipes Z, m into the outer and middle chambers a and b so as .to increase or decrease the illuminating power of the carbureted gas or air at pleasure Within certain limits.

The inlet pipe Z, leading to the ou ter chamber a and the inlet pipe m leadi-ng to the middle chamber b and the central outlet pipes n, J, leading from the innermost chamber c to the'burners, are connected together by a cross pipe or by-pass o provided with a cock 5 by opening which and closing the cocks l, 2 and 3 the gas or air may when desired be made to pass through the central outlet pipe J to the burners without passing into the carburetor. i

O'n the upper side of the cover G of the carburetora cap is soldered forming a chamber e of a size lsimilar to that formed by the raised platform cl at the bottom of the carburetor, the said chamber e extending over the top of both the inner and middle chamber b and c.- The said chamber c and the chamber beneath the platform d are ,both

filled witha'non-conducting material by which the temperature of the water in the water jacket f is prevented from affecting the temperature within the chambers b and c in which a low temperature is produced by the passage through them of gas from the chamber a the temperature within which chamber is kept low by the evaporation of the oil therein.

The carburetor rests upon suitable blocks or supports arranged at the bottom of the Water jacket f which extends some distance above the cover of the carburetor in order that the latter may be entirely submerged.

Oil is fed into the carburetor through a pipe z' provided with cocks 4i and 9 which pipe is connected to the feed box B at one end-the other end passing through the Water jacketf into and near the bottom of the outer chamber a.

, The outlet pipe n in the center of the inner'chamber c of the carburetor passes entirely through the latter and is held bya plate n on the top of the upper chamber and a plate n2 on the under side of the carburetor,

the said plates being screwed upon the outlet pipe so as to strengthen the apparatus and give it rigidity.

To provide for the preservation of uniformity of pressure in all parts of the apparatus the carbureting chamber a is connected with the feed box B and with the oil reservoir C by means of pipes p, p provided with cocks 6, 7, l0. The automatic feed box B should be set on a level with the bottom of the water jacketf of the carburetor and the pipe 'L' connecting the feed box B with the outer chamber a of the carburetor should pass out of the feed box B a little higher than the bottom of the said outer chamber d thus leaving a space for the oil at the bottom of the feed box somewhat deeper than the height of the blocks which support the carburetor in the Water jacket. The pipes 2,19, and q are all fitted with union joint connections in order that the feed box may be easily changed in case of need.

Oil is fed from the yoil reservoir C to the feed box B through a pipe q provided with cocks 8 and 13 and fitted with a conical inlet Valve r preferably of carbonized cork of line quality sometimes termed silk cork fitting' into a funnel shaped seat. The said inlet valve r is guided by and is capable of being adjusted upon a rod one end of which passes through the said valve. The said valve rod extends somewhat below the Vlower end of the Valve seat inside the feed box where it is turned at right angles vand runs parallel to the cover of the feed box from which it is suspended by means of lan arm or bracket. The outer end of the said valve rod is turned downward at right angles and carries a float s by which the valve?" is brought down upon its seat when the level of the oil in the feed box reaches the required height. The valvepin is screw threaded at the part whichvpasses through the cork valve fr' so as to admit of a nut being secured on the top and bottom of the valve. By moving these nutsV up or down the depth of oil permitted to stand in the apparatus may be increased or decreased at pleasure. A small metal platet is attached to one side of the feed box exactly underneath the inlet pipe by means of a spiral spring and to the under side of the said plate ta small bell u is hung. When oil passes through the valve i" into the feed box B, the said oil falls upon the plate t and causes the bell u to ring. The ringing of the said bell Which may be heard by placing the ear near the feed box indicates that the valve is Working satisfactorily. When the carburetor is not in use the ringing of the bell should cease.

The inlet pipe q of the feed box B is connected with the oil reservoir C which should be placed somewhat higher than the top of the conical inlet valve r of the feed box. The said reservoir is provided with an inlet pipe c having a cock 1l for the oil and an outlet pipe w having a cock 12 for the displaced gas, the said pipes v and w being fitted With ICO IIO

union joints to match the union joints ofthefilling can.

The apparatus works as follows: The pipe K being connected with the gas or air pipe and thepipe J with the burners the operator opens the cocks 13 and 8 ofthe pipe g thereby allowing the oil to iiow from the reservoir into the feed box B through the valve fr. He then opens the cocks 9 and 4 of the pipe t through which the oil passes from the feed box B into the chamber a of the carburetor. The apparatus will not however be ready to work until the packing in the cylinders a of the enriching chamber ct has 'by capillary absorption, become thoroughly charged with oil. The cock 5 is then opened which allows the gas to pass by the cross pipe o directly to the pipe J and to the burners without passing through the carburetor. Then the cock 3 on the outlet pipe 'n of the carburetor is opened and the air contained in the apparatus is allowed to escape through the said pipe. The cock 2 on the inlet pipe m leading to the chamber b is next opened and a minute later the cock 1 on the inlet pipe Z leading to the enriching chamber a. The cock 5 on the pipe'o is then gradually closed. VWhen the water in the water jacket has become sufficiently cold (which will be in about half an hour) the cock 2 on the pipe m is closed. The gas or air then passes only through the pipe Z into the enriching chamber a where it circulates through the Cylinders a. taking up carbon the quantity of which varies somewhat according to the gravity of the oil and the temperature of thegas or airV introduced and the temperature of the enriching chamber a. From the said kchamber the gas or air charged with carbon passes through the opening j into the middle or stripping chamber b where it is thoroughly mixed in its passage through the cylinders b and all supercarbon chilled or stripped out and absorbed by the packing in the cylinders b and returns by percolation through the cloth on the bottom of the carburetor to the enriching chamber ct. From the chamber the gas or air passes into the inner or friction chamber c through the groups of fiattened tubes y which as hereinbefore described are so arranged that the streams of gas from the several tubes in each group impinge upon each other, the cold blast thus produced serving by friction to atomize the carbon and render the union with the gas or air complete and fixed. In the said chamber c the gas or air becomes very cold by passing through the cylinders c and any supercarbon that may yet remain is chilled out and precipitated and returns to the enriching chamber a' by percolation through the cloth on the bottom of the carburetor. From the chamber c the gas or air enters the pipe n through suitable slits or perforations therein and thence passes to the pipe J and to the burners. It should be remarked that the gas or air does not come into contact with the oil in the enriching chamber a butonly with the packing in the cylinders. The water jacket f-isvprovided with an inlet pi peA f andan outflow pipe f2 by means of which circulation of the water in the said jacket may be established in case of need to prevent freezing of the said water in consequence of absorption of 21 heat therefrom by the chamber a in which 'a low temperature is produced by the evaporation of the oil within it. I

vBy the use of the apparatus hereinbefore described the illuminating power of the gas supplied to the burners can be considerably varied and the burners can be supplied with gasof a given illuminating power. This can be effected by so adjusting the opening of the valve in the feed box as to preserve Va suitable depth of oil in the enriching chambera, of the carburetor, and by causing a suitable circulation of the water through the water jacket and also by Vopening more or less the cocks 1, 2 and 5 of the pipes Z, 'm and o, as will be well understood. v

In Fig. 2, I have shown only a few of the I cylinders a b', c as perforated, the rest being represented for convenience diagrammatically it being understood however that all the cylinders are of the same form.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim f 1. In a carbureting apparatus the three con chambers `communicating with each other, the series of cylinders placed in the several chambers, those of the outer chamber being filled with absorbent material as wood ber, those of the intermediate'chamber b`with stripping material as asbestus and those of the central chamber with charcoal or nonconducting material, the outer chamberl'constituting theenriching chamber, the inter'- mediate one the mixing or stripping chamber,

and the central one the Vchilling chamber, the4 oil supply pipe and the carbureted air outlet pipe substantially as described.

2. In combination, in a carburetor, the outer chamber d, the inner chamber, c, and the intermediate chamber b the said chambers communicating with each other the platform d extending under the chambers b and c for raising the same the perforated cylinders within the chambers, the filling therein the cloth X extending over the bottom of the chambers b, c, and. into the outer chamber by which all super-carbonstripped and absorbed by the iilling in the cylinders of the chamber b is'returned throughsaid cloth to the outer `I chamber, the oil supply pipe and the outlet pipe for the carbureted air substantially as described. y

. 3. In combination, in a carburetor, the series of concentric chambers a, b, c, said chambers ct, b, communicating with each otherthrough an opening in their partition wall the oil and gas supply pipes, leading in to the outer chamber a the outlet leading from the central I chamber from the intermediate chamber b c and the groups of tubes cc, y, y, leading into4 the central chamber and arranged to cause the jets issuing therefrom to impinge against each other, substantially as described.

4. In combination, the series of concentric chambers a, b, c, communicating with each other through passages in their Walls the said chamber a forming the enriching or inlet chamber and the chamber c, the outlet chamber, the oil supply leading to the outer chamber a, the gas outlet pipe leading from the central chamber, the filling material in the several chambers, the air or gas inlet pipe leading to the chamber@ the branch pipe leading from the inlet pipe to the outlet pipe, and the branch pipe leading from the inlet pipe to the chamber Z2 intermediate oi" the central outlet chamber and the outer chamber a, substantially as described.

In a carburetin g apparatus the combination of the three concentric chambers a, b, c communicating with each other through passages in their Walls the cylinders therein containing iilling, the oil and air or gas inlet pipe leading to the outer chamber, the outlet, pipe leading from the central chamber, the water jacket surrounding the outer chamber a, and the chambers e, d extending across the top and bottom otv the inner chambers b, c, said chambers e, d being filled with non-conducting material, substantially as described.

ROBERT SOUTIIWORTH LAWRENCE.

Witnesses:

CHARLES ALVIN GILLIG, A. C. AITKEN. 

